baseball

Thank you for visiting! I hope you enjoy the video. Mike Fichter

I love baseball. As a longsuffering Pirates fan, I faithfully await the day when a world championship returns to the Steel City. At one Indiana festival, whenever I encounter the chalkboard where you can fill in the blank to the statement, “before I die, I hope to see ____”, my answer is always something to do with the Pirates and the World Series. So far it hasn’t worked out, but that’s part of the appeal of baseball.

Here in Indiana, there are few things better than a night game at Victory Field where future major leaguers work to hone their craft (yes, the Indianapolis Indians are the Triple A affiliate of the Pirates) and one can enjoy dollar night with a stunning view of the Indy skyline.

I know baseball is huge across our state. If you’re up north, it’s a good bet you cheer for the Cubs. Southwest Indiana is Cardinals territory. Southeast Indiana is Reds country. And then there are the rest of us.

Baseball is sport at its finest, and in many ways over the years, it has represented America at its finest.

That’s why a recent news story on Terre Haute’s WTHI about 14-year-old Shakamak middle school student Colin Hill grabbed my attention. Seems that Colin loves baseball too, but cerebral palsy, autism, and other issues have made it a real struggle for him to play the game he loves.

That doesn’t stop Colin from helping as a team manager, or helping his coaches and teammates in every way that he can. But Colin’s dream is to just play ball.

On the Shakamak Lakers’ last game of the season, Colin got his big chance. Brought into the game as a pinch hitter, Colin took two pitches before swinging the bat and making solid contact.

What happens next is something you just need to see to believe. Words just won’ t do it justice so I’ve posted up a link to a special video you can watch for yourself at www.irtl.og/baseball. One bit of advice: you may want to watch the video with a tissue in hand.

Some people think you have to be perfect to enjoy life. The problem with that thinking is that none of us are perfect at any stage of life. We may not be athletic. We may not be wealthy. We may never make the evening news. We may never be stars. We may just lead a simple life.

But we are all special because we are all made in the image of God. Sometimes we just need to be looking in the right places, like middle school baseball fields, to see it with our own eyes.
I truly hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch Colin’s at-bat. You’ll be blessed.